Chapter 29: The Mermaid Crawling in the Corridor Late at Night
"Let me do it."
A sigh escaped the tall woman's lips. She set down her chopsticks, rose from her seat, and walked over to Haruto's side, taking the heavy iron wok from Yotsuya Miko's hands.
This time, neither Haruto nor Kaguya objected, though they didn't miss the opportunity to shoot another glare at each other.
"What do you want to eat?" the woman asked, her voice calm and steady.
"Extra numb and extra spicy," Haruto answered without a moment's hesitation. "Anything else is fine." His dear Ran's cooking was a gift from the heavens, but she was notoriously strict, never allowing him to indulge in anything too oily or blisteringly hot.
Kaguya nodded emphatically beside him. "Me too!"
Her situation was much the same. Expecting her moon rabbit, Reisen, to whip up a spicy feast? She might as well wish for the moon to fall. It would be a minor miracle if the meal wasn't just a platter of raw carrots.
The tall woman's movements were a study in efficiency. With practiced ease, she prepped the ingredients, and soon, a rich, fragrant, and undeniably spicy aroma began to permeate the kitchen air, making their stomachs rumble in anticipation. She expertly stir-fried the seafood and vegetables, piling all the finished dishes into a large, cleaned bucket before handing it to Haruto.
"Take this back to your room to eat," she advised, her expression serious. "It's getting late. It might be dangerous to stay out here."
With that, she turned to rejoin King Chen, who had been waiting patiently nearby. But before she could take a step, Haruto called out to her.
"This is for you."
He fished two small, rectangular cards from his pocket and held them out.
"This is...?" she asked, her brow furrowed in confusion.
"Talisman Cards."
Haruto offered only the two-word explanation before turning to leave, giving her no time for further questions.
"What did that young man just give you?" King Chen asked, stepping forward to get a better look.
The tall woman shook her head, examining the complex symbols drawn on the thick paper. "I'm not sure. He just called them Talisman Cards."
"Talisman Cards?" King Chen murmured, the name vaguely stirring a distant childhood memory of some long-forgotten card game.
"Put them away for now," he said finally.
"Okay." The woman carefully tucked the cards into a hidden pocket sewn into the lining of her top.
By the time Haruto, Kaguya, and Miko carried the bucket of seafood back to their room, they were the last of the guests to return.
The food, it had to be said, was quite good. Even Haruto, whose palate had been spoiled by Yakumo Ran's five-star culinary masterpieces, found it more than decent. The fiery spice was a welcome, forbidden thrill.
"Whose Talisman Cards did you give them?" Kaguya asked curiously, her slender fingers skillfully prying the sweet meat from a crab shell.
"Youmu's," Haruto replied. "The power of Talisman Cards is weakened in these instances, but hers are specifically designed to work against ghosts. They should be useful. Consider it payment for the meal."
"Brother Bai Liu, what are you talking about?" Yotsuya Miko interjected, her face a mask of confusion. "What's a Talisman Card? Is that what you just gave away?"
"Yeah," Haruto explained casually, his eyes twinkling as his chopsticks darted out to snatch the last hairy crab from the center of the bucket. "It's a type of card that stores a specific technique. You can think of it like a skill card from a video game."
Kaguya ground her teeth, a flash of frustration in her eyes at the theft of her crab. "How many did Youmu give you?"
Haruto didn't say a word. He simply reached into a nearby Gap and pulled out two thick, perfectly squared stacks of Talisman Cards.
Kaguya's expression was a mixture of shock and disbelief. "She gave you her entire stash?"
Crafting Talisman Cards wasn't exceptionally difficult, but accumulating a collection of this size was no small feat. It would take years.
"She said she had no use for them, so she shoved them all at me," Haruto said with a shrug. Before he had paid a visit to Eientei, he'd spent some time getting to know Youmu. Worried that he might run into trouble, she had insisted on giving him her entire stock for his protection.
One shouldn't be fooled by the fact that there were only two stacks. For a swordswoman like Youmu, who was accustomed to fighting with a real blade, this was her entire life's savings. It was a stark contrast to someone like Kazami Yuuka, who, despite her immense power, didn't possess a single Talisman Card.
"But they probably won't be very effective here," Haruto added, a hint of resignation in his voice. "I can feel it. The instance is suppressing their power. Unless you're at Yukari's level, you can't just forcefully break through this kind of restriction."
He casually handed three of the cards to Miko. As for Kaguya, there was no need. The immortal princess certainly had no shortage of life-saving methods, not to mention the fact that she could simply revive herself even if she died.
Seeing Miko's face flushed beet-red from the spice, Haruto sighed and handed her a cup of water he had chilled using his Boundary Power. "If you can't handle spicy food, you should have said so earlier. It's not like I don't have anything else."
As he spoke, he reached into a Gap and pulled out several large carrots. They were rosy and bright, their perfect forms a clear proof of the careful care they had received.
"The food I had stored before did, in fact, all end up in Yuyuko's stomach," he admitted. "But later, Reisen gave me a whole bucket of these carrots as thanks for restoring those potions for her."
Miko stared, surprised. "Then, Brother Bai Liu, why did you say you didn't bring any food before?"
"Because I don't like eating carrots," Haruto stated, his tone matter-of-fact. He detested them. If Ran ever tried to sneak carrots into his meals, he would secretly toss them into a Gap to be delivered to Reisen or Tewi later.
Miko was momentarily speechless, unsure how to respond. But then, thinking about Haruto's eccentric personality, she simply let it go, accepted the carrots, and began nibbling on one in small, delicate bites.
Having eaten and drunk his fill, a wave of sleepiness washed over Haruto. Without a second thought, he flopped onto the bed. The duty of the night watch was, naturally, handed over to Kaguya. She had no need for sleep. Even if she did get drowsy, she could just end her life for a quick reset. Besides, for an expert in the arts of "cultivation," staying up for a single night was nothing.
Yotsuya Miko crawled onto the other side of the bed. The faint, familiar scent of Haruto filled her senses, and a deep sense of security settled over her. Drowsiness soon followed, and before she knew it, she had drifted off into a deep sleep.
Sometime in the dead of night, however, she was shaken awake.
Kaguya was gripping her shoulders, her eyes wide with alarm. Just as Miko was about to speak, Kaguya pressed a finger to her own lips, her expression deadly serious as she signaled for silence.
Though Miko didn't understand, she nodded obediently. She then realized she was once again being held tightly in Haruto's arms, used as a human-sized body pillow. She gave him a gentle push, but he didn't react in the slightest, still lost in a deep, peaceful slumber. Beside them, the resentment in Kaguya's eyes was practically overflowing.
Patter...
A faint sound echoed from the corridor, and in an instant, the hair on Miko's arms stood on end. She was wide awake.
The corridor... someone's out there?
No, that wasn't right. It couldn't be a person.
In the dead of night, Miko couldn't imagine any of the other guests venturing into the dangerous hallway. Every room had its own bathroom; there was no reason to go out. The only other explanation sent a chill down her spine. What was in the corridor right now wasn't human. It was a ghost—the mermaid.
Patter... rustle... patter...
The sound was strange, not what Miko had expected. It sounded like footsteps, but they were faint, almost muffled, accompanied by the dry, scraping sound of something rubbing against the floor and the subtle noise of an object being dragged. The steps were agonizingly slow, unhurried, exuding a suffocating, predatory patience.
The sound drew closer. And closer.
A bead of cold sweat slid down Miko's temple, trickling into her eye and stinging it intensely, but she didn't dare to blink, her gaze fixed on the door.
Will it stop? Is it going to make a move on us?
Kaguya was equally tense, her breathing growing just a bit heavier. She wasn't afraid of corpses or bloody scenes, but perhaps as a side effect of her time spent surfing the internet, she still harbored an inexplicable, primal fear of things like ghosts.
The sound paused directly outside their door.
In that moment of silence, the hearts of the two girls felt as if they had stopped beating altogether.
Creeeak—
It was the sound of fingernails scratching against wood. The thing outside seemed to be trying to crawl up the door. A moment later, the wooden frame let out an overburdened groan, as if a massive, unseen weight was leaning heavily against it.
Click... click-click...
The doorknob was turning.
The girls' hearts leaped into their throats. Fortunately, the three of them had prepared in advance, locking the door from the inside with the deadbolt. Though the knob was being twisted from the other side, the door remained firmly shut.
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